My Secret Weapon

May has officially begun!!!! I don't know about you guys but April flew by for me. It seems like it was barely even here. Since its the first day of a brand new month I thought I would share one of my biggest tools that I use to stay in shape and exercise with my CRAZY schedule. I travel a lot so finding time to excise or space can be a challenge. One thing that really has helped me on my journey these past 3 years are the Popsugar Fitness workouts. I found them at the beginning of my fitness journey and have literally used them ever since. Popsugar Fitness has an app that I greatly recommend all of you download and on the app are all the workout videos you could ever want. They range from 5 mins all the way to 1 hour. My favorites are the 10 min videos because I will mix and match them to build an amazing workout. Another thing I like about them is that they explain everything so simply that anyone can understand the moves and do them. They also offer various modifications so you can go easier or harder depending on your fitness level. Honestly these workouts have really changed my fitness life. I can take this app anywhere in the word and have workouts at my finger tips. It's basically my secret weapon for working out on the go. I highly recommend everyone try their workouts and download their app. 

I'm Back!!

Wow I can't believe I haven't posted in about a Month!! I really missed all you guys. Well I'm back now so you can look forward to many new posts I've been working on for my blog and Instagram account. So much has happened during my time not posting. I've moved from Canada back to Texas, which I'm very excited about, and I'm now looking at colleges. I honestly love Texas so much I'm so happy to be here but I do miss Canada sometimes. The food in TX is amazing though, I'm pretty sure I've gain like 20 lbs since I've been here. Luckily I've located the nearest Wholefoods and Trader Joe's, I need them like I need oxygen seriously. Well that's all for now! I'll have tons of new posts coming y'all's way soon I promise! Thanks for bearing with me. -Alex 

Roasted Chickpeas aka The Best Snack EVER

Okay so I just want to start off by saying my Dad and I were making and snacking on roasted chickpeas before they were the trendy cool snack they are today. Since he is from Pakistan he is already a chickpea fan and he passed that love of chickpeas on to me from like birth. So I've been eating chickpea basically since I could chew. Roasted chickpeas are a great, healthy snack that provide a good amount of protein and fiber to help keep you full. They are a fantastic substitute for chips and you can basically flavor them however you want! The options are endless. 

My personal favourite is just plain old roasted chickpeas with salt, pepper, and grapeseed oil. All you do is take a can of chickpeas rinse them and then toss a few tablespoons of your oil of choice on them. Then add your spices and put them on a pan to roast. Cook them for about and 1 hr on 375 or until brown and crunchy. You can store them in little snack packs for about a week in your pantry. So instead of grabbing a bag of chips grab a bag of these little babies! 

#TransformationTuesday

When I look at my #transformationtuesday I feel so accomplished. I mean I worked my butt off and I can't complain about the results at all. A lot of people would look at the picture on the left and be completely disgusted by that girl, I used to feel that way too but not anymore. I don't hate or despise her at all, far from it actually.  The girl on the left is just as amazing as the skinnier girl on the right. She was just as funny, smart, and beautiful. Loosing weight is definitely gratifying and makes you feel better about your appearance but being skinnier isn't all that matters in life. Now being healthier is definitely important. The girl on the left was not as healthy as the girl on the right. She hardly ever exercised or ate any whole food. She was filling her body with artificial foods and unhealthy chemicals.  The girl on the right however lives off whole, clean foods. She enjoys fruits and vegetables and loves to run. She fuels her body with the best fuel am treats it so much better.  So when I look at these two pictures the biggest transformation I see isn't in appearance, or weight, it is in the way I transformed my lifestyle. I transformed my unhealthy eating habits and inactive lifestyle and that's the best #transformationtuesday you can have.  

I Think I Have a Problem...

Okay so I was strolling through my Instagram and it dawned on me, I'm ADDICTED/OBSESSED with Mexican food!!! I'm not kidding, at least half my lunches and dinners are Mexican food. Tostadas, tacos, taco salads, you name it and I've eaten it people. I literally put jalapeños on everything and I might as well drink salsa. I'm pretty sure I must have some Mexican blood down my family line somewhere. It probably has to do with the fact that I've been raised In Texas  for most of my life, hello Tex-Mex. I don't know if this has anything to do with it but my mom has told me that she ate an abnormal amount of Mexican food when she was pregnant with me so basically I've been eating it since before birth. I thought I'd share some of my favorite Mexican themed meals with you guys. Let me know what your food obsessions are! 

Taco Salad!

Tostadas!

More Taco Salad! 

Baked Oatmeal!

Guys I have discovered my absolute favourite breakfast of all time. BAKED OATMEAL!! I finally got around to whipping up a batch and its official I'm hooked. It is literally the best thing on earth. Here is the recipe so you guys can jump on board my new obsession.

Ingredients-  

2 eggs

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder

1 tsp of cinnamon 

1 1/2 tsp salt 

1 1/4 cups of milk

1/4 cup of butter(melted, I used salted but I don't think it matters) 

3 cups of rolled oats 

**I added walnuts and chocolate chips to mine but you can literally add whatever you would like before baking and afterwards**

Directions- preheat your oven to 350 and butter an 8 by 8-inch baking dish for later. 

In a large bowl mix together the eggs then add in the brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt, wisk together until no lumps remain. Stir in the melted butter and milk and then add the oats. Now you bake it for 30-40 mins until it has set(you can also store it In the fridge overnight and bake the next day if desired)

After you remove it from the oven you can serve it warm and add whatever toppings you like. Berries,honey,milk,cream,maple syrup,chocolate chips, nuts, you name it, it's entirely up to you. I hope you guys enjoy this recipe, let know below how you liked it!

This is how mine turned out, unfortunately I couldn't get the pic before my Fam had already started digging in.

February Favorites!

Hey guys! So I'm starting a new thing on my blog today. I will be doing my favourites of each month. I'll be sharing all the things I've just been loving for this month  so let's get into it. 

My mascara fave this month is the Almay get up & grow in blackest black. It just looks so natural on and gives me tons of lengh. 

My favorite lip product this month has been the Pixie Tink Tint in this bubblegum pink. It is so moisturizing and the corporate lasts forever. Plus Pixie is all natural and paraben free. 

My favorite scent this month is definitely my Pink Sun Kissed body mist. It smells like a tropical paradise and just makes me smell like summer. I'm in love. 

My favourite shows this month have been Baby Daddy and Reign. Omg these shows are like my addiction. If I had to pick a fave out of the two I would probably Reign just because I love shows set in this era! 

One of my favorite songs this month has been Little Red Wagon by Miranda Lambert. I fell in love with it when she premiered it at the Grammys. 

My favorite snack this month has definitely been MANGOES!!!!! I'm obsessed and I have literally been eating them almost everyday. 

Well that's all for my favorites this month I hope you guys liked them. Let me know what your favorites are down below! 

Partying in Pisa!!

One of my favourite sights that I saw while over in Europe was definitely the Leaning a Tower of Pisa. Pisa the city wasn't very impressive to me personally, it seemed kind of torn up and just a little ghetto. But the area where the actual Tower sits was really gorgeous. I loved how there were no barriers around the tower or other buildings in the courtyard. You could just walk up to them and touch them if you wanted. Being open like that allowed for great pictures, if you ever can I definitely recommend going to check it out. Here are some pictures me and my family took. 

Wanderlust and Waterfalls!

I was looking through some pictures from my 4 months in Europe last spring and I thought I'd share some with you all. These pictures are from basically the middle of nowhere in between Switzerland and France. We're driving back to my cousins house in Switzerland from France and were crossing through the mountains when we noticed these little waterfalls spewing from the mountains. So we took a little detour through freakishly tiny, slightly creepy roads until we wound our way to the falls. We parked our car and then took a little hit up to the little waterfalls. The area we were in was beyond gorgeous and was pretty remote except for a tiny little village. We were able to walk right up to the waterfall and put our hands under them. It was definitely an experience to remember. 

This was the amazing view from the road. 

How cute are these little waterfalls though??

 

My dad was beyond excited to be there as you can see:)

On our way down from the area where the waterfalls were we stumbled upon a little stream so of course my brother and I had to have a quick splash around!

The water was actually freezing that day but I still couldn't resist. 

Valentines Day Treats!!

Valentine's Day is only 2 days away so I figured why not do a V-Day themed post? I'm super excited about this Valentines Day, me and one of my BFFs are both single and sick of missing our exes so we decided hey let's be each others Valentines. I've been working on a great surprise for her :) Anyway back to the post, I am going to share two cute little recipes that you guys can make and even give away to your own Valentines. 

The first recipe is Red and Pink sweet pretzel treats. They are super easy to make all you will need are a back of striped Hershey's kisses, square pretzels, and a bag of the Valentines M&Ms. All you do is take the pretzels and put a Hershey's on each one and bake them for about 3-4 minutes or until they are soft, then put an M&Ms on top of the Hershey's and push them down. These make great little treats. 

The second recipe is probably the easiest thing you will ever make. All you need is a bag of marshmallows, strawberries, skewers, some melting chocolate, and a bag of two bite brownies. All you do is take your skewers and put on a few marshmallows, strawberries, and brownies. Then take some of the melting chocolate, melt it, and drizzle it across your dessert kabobs. These are so easier to make and taste delicious! 

I hope you guys like these, if you try either of them let me know how you liked them. Have a great Valentines Day! 

Coconut Oil Day!!

Okay so today I decided to give myself a little pampering. I love putting coconut oil in my hair. It helps keep my scalp and hair moist and healthy plus it's supposed to help stimulate growth(here's hoping anyway). I'm in the process of growing out my hair so if it's supposed to help growth I'm all for it.

 I also tried something new today, oil pulling. I've been hearing all great things about it so I decided why not? Oil pulling is the process of swishing coconut oil around your mouth for 20 minutes. It's supposed to work wonders. Here are a few supposed benefits. 

Today is the first time I've tried it so let's see what happens. If any of you have tried it let me know? Did you like it? Did it work? I'm so curious about it. 

Make Up Haul!!

So I went make up shopping!!!! I was running low on some key items specifically foundation and mascara so I went and picked up some new products. Here's what I got

For foundation I picked up the Pixie tinted moisturizer and the Cover Girl 12 hr moisture foundation. I picked up 2 Pixie tinted lip balms. I love Pixie brand because they are paraben free which is wonderful. I also picked up 2 Marcelle mascaras, one for volume and one for length and an Almay Healthy Lenghs mascara. All are in the shades blackest black. Lastly, I picked up the L'Oreal illuminating primer. In the non make up category I picked up the Biore self heating charcoal face masks which I can't wait to try, some make up sponges, and the age perfect by L'Oreal for my mom because it was on sale :) 

I'll let you guys know how I liked all the products after I've had a chance to try them all out. Let me know if you guys have tried any of these products below!

Sweet Potato Chips

Okay so I am kind of obsessed with making homemade Sweet Potato Chips right now. I've always loved them and used to buy the Terra brand but now that I've tried making them I'm in love. I bake mine in the oven and the come out amazing. I let mine stay a little softer but you could crunch them up as much as you'd like, it's totally up to you. They are such a healthy snack, Plus this way they aren't fried which makes them much healthier and it's cheaper too.  Here's how what you do 

Take a sweet potato and slice them into really thin slices, I use a mandolin because they have to be thin. Then toss them with some grape seed oil, salt and pepper(you can use any seasoning you'd like really it's endless possibilities) then lay the chips on a baking sheet lined with foil and grease lighty with either coconut or grasps seed oil. Place them in a oven heated to 350 for around 40-60 mins depending on how crunchy you want them. And voila your very own healthy sweet potato chips. Enjoy. 

Pakistan

In honour of throwback Thursday I thought I would throwback to my trip to Pakistan last spring! My family and I stopped into Pakistan on our way to Europe to visit my dads side of the family. It had been about 6 years since the last time we'd been there so I didn't remember that much about it. It was a great trip though I loved seeing all my family, I have over 50 cousins and around 16-17 aunts and uncles. There's definitely never a dull moment! My grandparents live out in the country in a little village so we have to drive from Islamabad(capital city) to the village which takes around 6 hours. Not my favorite part of the trip I'll have to admit, after flying for almost 24 hrs a 6 hr drive is the last thing you want to do. I usually just stick on some music and sleep. Once we get to the village our whole GIANT family is waiting at our grandparents house to meet us which is amazing yet kind of overwhelming because of how many people there are. Plus I mean we look awful from all the traveling so the last thing you want to do is be surrounded by people you haven't seen in years. I love being out in the country though, we have a huge wheat field in the back and I love to go out there. It's the most relaxing place in the whole house.  They don't have stoves so we have to cook on fire, which for 2-3 weeks is actually fun but I don't think I could do it forever. My grandparents also have tons of chickens and goats so naturally we have baby chicks and baby goats every time we go and they are absolutely precious. One of the biggest downsides of the village is that there are no toilets. This is literally the worst because all we have is a hole in the ground where you squat. Luckily they have toilet paper which kind of helps make the squat hole a tiny bit better. Going to Pakistan definitely makes me appreciate my very blessed life I have here. We take so many things for granted, simple things like stoves and actual toilets. Many people in the village can hardly afford food for their families let alone luxuries like tvs, iPhones, and computers. It's a very humbling and eye opening experience to see just how blessed we all are to have all these normal everyday luxuries that people over there will never have. My parents and I actually started a school in our village for all the girls and boys who couldn't afford to pay for school and it is thriving! We have over 100 kids and growing. I will be writing a post on our visit to the school soon.  Here are some pics from our trip I hope you guys enjoy them! 

Here is myself and two of my favourite little cousins.

 Two of of my favorite little girl cousins. 

Me and my dad. 

My aunt and I working on dinner, this is our "stove"

Wheat Field, which I'm twinning with!! 

Taking a ride to the market with my little cousin. 

Did a little impov Photoshoot in the wheat field because "hey, why not?"  

My precious baby cousin!! 

Henna! 

Hunter Hayes Concert

Okay guys so I'm a massive Hunter Hayes fan. Like I own every album and listen to his songs pretty much daily. He is just amazing all around and has the most beautiful lyrics, what's not to love? So when I got the chance to see him in London, Ontario 2 months ago I freaked out!  I had standing seats which means we were in the pit and let me tell you, you couldn't have had better seats in the entire place. I was right at the front row, in fact I was so close I could touch the freaking stage. I also snagged a blurry yet still amazing picture with him while he was on break from doing a radio interview. 

Not the best but I'll never delete this pic as long as I live. 

That's how close I was, his feet are literally within touching distance. 

Hunter gives an amazing show, one of the best I've seen. He is so humble and sweet. One thing I really loved about his performances was that he left the main stage to a stage set up in the nosebleeds so that everyone could enjoy his performance up close. He plays a huge variety of instruments which is amazingly impressive and he just has an amazing stage present. Plus hey I'm a bit biased because I'm a huge fan ;)  being so close was amazing. I got to touch his hand twice and was able to literally see the sweat dripping down his face( yeah gross yet adorable at the same time) It was definitely one of the best nights of my life and I'll never forget it. Here are a few more pics, enjoy. 

Me and my mom waiting for the doors to open. 

Dan and Shay were the opening act. They were pretty good, I only knew one of their songs  

Hunter takes the stage. 

Walks right by me. *freaks out*

Jamming on his guitar. 

Finishing up the best show ever.